Welcome to Gaia! ::

{ This RP will start between Naeodin and I, but so long as it's okay with her others can drop in if they like. Just give a prior warning post to make sure it's all peachy. Thanks a bundle. x3 }

Kaja Coralena's peace and quiet had been turned upside down by the emergence of the child who was currently stumbling along only an inch before her. Despite having only recently accomplished toddling, Ruben insisted on going around their lodgings on his own two feet and would screech if Kaja tried to pick him up.

This was his first unaided walk outside the garden, and Kaja felt it must look a strange sight indeed. She had slowed to match her pace to his erratic wobble, and had to keep stopping when he stumbled back against her. Now, her hand shot out to steady him once more and steer him around a large stone in the path that threatened tears if not avoided.

With Ruben still full of energy and determination - which impressed Kaja no end; he seemed to get bored all too quickly with everything else - Kaja worried that at their slow pace they wouldn't make it back to the house before sundown. The shadows, she noted, were growing longer and already the air was beginning to fill with the harbinger sounds of the night; the croak of frogs in the lake to their right and the buzz of pesky nocturnal insects.

“Come on, Ruben, we’d better be turning round,” she placed a hand on his shoulder to guide him back, and was met with a mumble of protest. Now she was in for a battle…

For what felt like the hundredth time that evening alone - the morning and afternoon weren't to be accounted for - Kaja found herself running her fingers through her hair, raking it back against her scalp. It was a gesture she'd become familiar with during the examinations and the run-up to the Lotus award ceremony and was quickly attributed to stress. Now it accounted for her anxieties revolving around Ruben, who was currently giving her a look so challenging - If you DARE to boss me around I'll SCREAM! - the voices of the approaching strangers almost skipped her notice.

They didn't Ruben's, however. The little boy was distracted from his scowling by the high-pitched sound the other young Lotus made. Having hardly come into contact with anybody except his guardian and the fish that lived in the garden pond he was so determined to catch, the pair were instantly an item of - at least initial - curiosity. He dipped round to all fours so he could crawl towards them, which was what led Kaja to turn as well. "What is- Oh!"

With mild surprise - she'd rarely met anyone on previous late afternoon walks - she raised an arm to wave a greeting.

{ Soye comes from Koriyu! x)

Oh, and since we were in the same contest I figured our characters could have been attending the same school. I'll change it if you're not happy with this. xD; }

"Good evening," Kaja bobbed her head in a gesture like an informal bow. The impression left of the importance of manners that had been drummed into her at a young age was still second nature. A moment later, when she lifted her head again, the two were close enough for her to make out several things. The first - and she felt a pang of homesickness - was that the elder had the look and demeanor of one from Koriyu, and the second was that the younger - a child from Ishura, she took a guess from the colour of the bloom on her head - was close enough in development to Ruben to have been awarded at the same time.

Now that Kaja thought about it, there was something more familiar about the guardian than just her apparent origin. She didn't get out the house much - she didn't often want to; the hustle and bustle of the mainland still intimidated her and so late walks such as this when hardly anybody was around were as far as she ventured for recreation - but she could have sworn she'd seen her before. Perhaps at the ceremony when she'd recieved Ruben, but that evening was fuzzy from the euphoria of passing its successful milestone. She would have to ask.

It took effort to keep a lid on the laugh that wanted to erupt at the thought of a cute Ruben. Kaja supposed he must be to the casual on-looker - don't most children appear to be - but put them in her shoes when preparing him for bed and they'd soon be thinking otherwise. Still, she smiled her thanks with, "So is your little one. What's her name? I'm Kaja and this is Ruben." She cast an eye down on the boy to make sure he wasn't getting up to any mischief and - though she had less hope for this - remembering the manners she'd been trying to teach him.

Being the first time Ruben had ever met another baby, Kaja wasn't quite sure how he'd react. She was relieved to see he wasn't about to try and rub dust in the other's eyes or about to scream his head off. Rather, now close enough to touch the girl, he had sat back on his bottom - with an "Ouf!" she'd heard, he still wasn't that steady - to scrutinize her. Well, if anything did go wrong Kaja would just have to scoop him up and stop it.

"I didn't really expect to see anybody either. Not this late, anyway. I think a lot of people would prefer to head into the centre around now. The ones that don't have young children to keep an eye on, anyway."

"We're both pleased to meet you," Kaja accounted for Ruben as well, not only because he had yet to grasp the concept of words, but because she had doubts even if he did whether he'd remember to. But there was fault in that. Maybe - she had wondered the night before as she lay on her bed, Ruben finally settled onto her breast, head pressed into the dip of her collarbone - he could tell she didn't trust him, and was playing up because he felt unfairly judged. They'd never much studied the psyche involved in child-rearing, but there was the idea that children always knew more than adults granted them for.

But that was a late-at-night thought and didn't have much impact in the here-and-now. She was just relieved to see Ruben tilting his head - and then his whole body, as if he's over-balanced, so Kaja was quickly stooping to right him - to look at Eun Sun from a different angle.

"Brrr-rr." He mimicked, trying the sound out. Apparently pleased, he pressed dusty-from-crawling palms together and rocked backwards. "Rrr."

As Kaja straightened again, Ruben backed up by one of her legs, she replied, "Oh, I know what you mean. I'm having a hard time believing it as well. It's sort of surreal, isn't it, to think that all those years of work and worry have built up to this after all." She smiled. Despite having marked the question as personal, she felt convicted to reassure Soye - weren't they both in this together?

And goodness knows, Kaja thought she could do with some company. Ruben was all very good and well - he took up almost ALL of her time - but without her studies... Well. It would be nice to have somebody closer to her own age and experiencing similar things to her to bounce ideas off. Maybe they could help each other out. Kaja was now determined to make a good impression. And a friend.

Which was why she was still smiling when she sheepishly admitted, "My garden isn't quite finished yet either. I've still got a lot of pots to plant out, seeds to sew... But right now the little sir's not content with a half-finished garden and wanted a wider expanse to wander."

"I can't say whether Ruben has, either," Kaja nodded. A moment's pause to think and then she admitted, "But he doesn't seem very impressed; he keeps on trying to move the pebbles from beside the pond." Something Kaja was faintly hurt about; it had taken her the best part of two days to dig the hole alone, and another two on top of that to line it, deviate a channel from the lake to fill it, settle in the plants... There were nine goldfish - five Comet, two Shubunkin, two Demekin/Black Moor - in there as well, but they liked to hide under the parasols of the baby lily pads.

On reflection, she could have used magic to dig, line, fill, and plant the pond. It just seemed more satisfying - and more energy saving - to do it that way and at the time Ruben was still lying, not yet on the move, in the shade and kicking his legs at the leaves as they moved in the breeze off the lake. As soon as he'd been mobile, he'd been trying to rearrange her work as if he fancied he could make a better job of it.

He'd also been fishing. Nine times now she'd had to pull a terrified creature out his mouth by the tail. It was often the same fish - one of the Shubunkin. These - unfortunate for the fish - events had prompted her to sew a cuddly bean toy with similar markings, but Ruben wasn't to be fooled. Still, he seemed to like it; he took it with him everywhere. Currently, it's dusty head was sticking out his pocket, one scratched black button eye watching Eun Sun.

Ruben himself was giggling - actually giggling, to Kaja's unexpressed delight - at Eun Sun's mimicry. Shuffling away from his guardian on his bottom, he cut the distance between them a little more, fast gaining confidence in the presence of this one who was more-like-him.

Kaja wholeheartedly agreed with Soye. She knew there were plenty of Guardians out there going through the same thing - to a lesser or greater extent - as her, but as of yet she hadn't been fortunate enough to run into one. "Well," she was hesitating again, debating whether this what she wanted to say might seem too forward, too soon for only just having been properly introduced. "Well. If you ever want to come for tea and bounce ideas around, you're most welcome to. We live," she twisted and gestured - it was rude to point - down the path behind her, "A short way in that direction."

Kaja found herself enjoying this chance meeting more every second. "Oh, I didn't get ours started until a couple of days before the award ceremony," she couldn't the nervous smile that crept onto her lips. This was the first time she'd admitted this to anybody - except Ruben, and he'd appeared more interested in a beetle tightrope walking a twig in the tree they'd been sat under, so he didn't really count - and seeing as Soye was sharing her own struggles, it felt like a weight off Kaja's chest. "It was like exploring a Milvan jungle at first. The previous tenants clearly hadn't cared a whit for gardening."

"Poor Ruben had to spend a day longer in the glass bowl from they presented him in than I would have really liked him to..." She hoped that didn't make her seem like a poor parent. Reaching a hand down to lightly touch the silky white petals of the boy's Lotus, she offered him not the first apology for this fault in planning. If Ruben had noticed that or his name, he certainly wasn't letting on. No, he was far too preoccupied in following his new companion's interest towards his pocket.

"Ouh-wuh?" 'Wuh' with a lilt on the 'uh', Kaja had quickly picked up, had come to stand for 'What?', and the boy was certainly giving Eun Sun a bemused look for her clapping. It didn't take him long to cotton on, however; his own guardian did similar when she wanted to attract his attention. Whether he gave it to her was another matter. He was more keen to please this new one-like-him though, and the soft toy fish was soon being wriggled from its dark hideaway and presented - maybe a little warily; it was his fish after all - to the curious Eun Sun.

There was something more than just relief that spread into Kaja's smile for Soye's upbeat reaction and explanation. There was a guilty undertone as she remembered her own guardian - and the lack of letters she'd sent him to let him know of her progress. She'd just been so caught up in things lately she hadn't found the time. Besides, a dispirited little voice nudged at the back of her mind, it wasn't like he'd reply, the scatter-brained old love. Still, she hoped she'd be able to travel home soon to introduce him to Ruben. They'd make a right pair, she reckoned, as stubborn as each other.

"And he seems to be getting along just fine with her, too," Kaja picked up again, giving the two babies a glance of her own. "And yes, I did make it. It doesn't have a name yet, though, does it Ruben?" She was ignored again, but kept up the smile anyway. "Look, I know it's getting late and it's not in your direction, but if you like you two could come back with us for a cup of tea? I could show you the house?"

{ We seem to be writing more with every post! xD

And fishy - but I haven't put the stitches inbetween the different colour segments on. She did the main body and then stitched on those bits. Something like that, though. x3 }

"There is a certain satisfaction and joy to be found in nurturing part of the landscape," Kaja agreed with a nod. It was an art form in itself, was gardening. There was meticulous care needed in creating something both pleasing to the eye - Kaja was of the opinion you couldn't just dot splashes of colour in the form of flowers willy-nilly, it had to be structured - and a useful part of the environment. There was quantity of light to consider, accessibility to water... You had to find the right plants that would be comfortable in the conditions you could provide, not just the ones that looked pretty. "But it's not the same as just getting out there. Say, to admire alpines in their natural habitat. The world's got a way of cobbling things together just right. Then again, they're completely different experiences and so shouldn't be compared, really."

She found herself stifling a light-hearted laugh at Soye's anecdote about her guardian. This woman was a breath of fresh air, to Kaja. How long had they been talking? Ten minutes? Maybe a quarter of an hour? Yet they were already sharing stories of their own childhood! "My guardian never bothered to put together a garden and had no qualms telling me he didn't regret it," Kaja knew it was hard to believe that she'd once been the sort to hitch up his skirts and clamber up trees, scuff her knees, and risk eating berries she wasn't supposed to. She felt easy enough in Soye's company not to emit such experiences from the conversation. "The funny old dear that he is. I spent a lot of time round our neighbours'."

Ruben had watched Eun Sun as scrupulously as one of his age could - it was his fish! - which turned to a burble and a beam when it was back in his own chubby hands and he understood that she liked it. And had the same methods of working out if she liked it as him. He clearly didn't care that the tail was now damp as well as grubby, and had yet to learn of the dangers of all the little nasties in the world.

Kaja hadn't really tried to teach him about them, either. The real fish had been plucked from his mouth, along with waterweed and numerous other oddities, he'd been washed after playing in the mud, made to wash his hands before he smooshed his dinner to pieces, but she'd reasoned that children would be children and it was only possible to take precautionary measures at this stage. Besides, she'd made that fish knowing it would be gummed to pieces, and better it than the real goldfish who'd be to death. Especially since Ruben had a couple of teeth by now.

Another nod of understanding for Soye's situation, and then a smile for the invitation. "If it's more convenient for you that would be lovely." And the promise of tea - the tea she'd grown up on, not the stuff she'd been buying from the market - had her in a state near ecstasy.

Ruben as well was wondering why they hadn't moved on as usual, and why now his guardian was turning to go the other way.

{ But quality and quantity. x3

It's because we're filling it up with anecdotes, I think. xD }